Power
by Phillozophy
Summary: He never wanted to be here, curled up on the ground, bleeding and burned.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own, wahoo.

* * *

Why was he here again?

Oh, yeah, because he somehow got wrapped up in saving Valoo.

Why had he agreed to help Medli? Why had he thought that would be a good idea? It was his fault Medli was gone now, captured by some monsters.

And he needed Din's Pearl, too. That was a thing.

But hold on, all Link ever wanted to do in the first place was save Aryll! Why was he off on adventures to defeat, he refuses to use the word kill, that Ganon guy? Absolutely ridiculous, all of it.

He has no idea how long he's been curled up on the ground now because he just killed that massive lava centipede, he calls it Gohma for some reason, and he's bleeding and burned and every single blasted part of his body hurts like hell.

That thing had caught him in wave after wave of fire, scalding his skin and boiling his blood, thrown it's pincers at him, crushing bone and ripping gashes in his, well, everywhere.

Ah, and then there had been that time when it caught him as he was swinging from Valoo's tail, it grabbed his leg, destroyed the bone, and had smashed him into the ground, no doubt cracking or breaking his ribs. And then, it had tried to stab him, but he had his shield on his back so it couldn't. His shield was probably completely splintered now, though.

He'd have to thank Grandma if he got home.

He really can't move, either. Crippling pain washes over him every time he twitches, and he hadn't really thought of stocking up on red potions before this.

He wonders what his grandmother would say if she saw him, balled up and struggling to take each shuddering breath.

 _You should have been more careful?_ Nah, not in this situation.

 _Young man, no dessert for a week!_ He honestly didn't think he'd make it through the week, much less today.

She'd probably start crying, actually. Yeah, that sounds about right.

…Aryll would've probably laughed. That was just the type of person she was. Tried to cover over her fear with laughter and smiles and seagulls.

The ground shakes beneath him again as Valoo lets out a screaming, horrified roar, and he shuts his eyes and tries to block out the pain.

He's still managing to cling on to life, though. He can't die without bringing Aryll home.

He's getting tired now; it's getting progressively more difficult to think about anything coherent.

The lava that's flowing in the pool a few feet away kind of reminds him of his grandma's soup. He wonders for a bit if it would taste good. Nobody's ever eaten lava, after all. Who knows? Maybe it tastes good.

Something that sounds suspiciously like footsteps ring from behind the door, and then, all of a sudden, it's blown down by lit bombs.

He almost laughs to himself, because a few days ago he wouldn't even have known what bombs sound like, but know he knows it so well he could pick it out from a mile away.

Rito, led by Quill, file into the room, carrying spears and swords and he thinks one guy, a human, surprisingly, is carrying a mail box, but whatever, who cares.

Wait, that's the part time guy who asked him to deliver his letter to his mother, huh? He realizes that the letter's probably turned to ash now, and he'll have to apologize for that later.

If there _is_ a later, that is. You never really know when you're hurting this bad.

"Link?" Quill is calling and he wants to answer but everything just hurts too bad. "Where are you?"

"Quill, I think I found him!" He hears someone else say, it's an urgent and desperate voice, and then there are startled gasps and stomping feet.

Link cracks open an eye and looks at them, trying to understand whether this is a dream or reality, before he feels strong arms pick him up and he whimpers from the abrupt change in position.

"Hey," It's Quill who picked him up, and he smells like paper and feathers and ink, "hang in there-," but he can't really comprehend what he's saying or what is happening anymore.

He passes out after that.

.

.

.

When Link wakes up, he's sleeping in a bed, he can't tell whose, but it's soft and warm and very comfortable. There's a splint on his leg, bandages wrapped around his completely singed right hand, and more bandages pretty much everywhere.

Medli is slumped over at a table and Komali is sitting right next to him, and he can feel the Rito prince changing the towel on his forehead and staring at him.

Link forces his eyes open more than the unnoticeable squint they're at, getting used to the blind actually-somewhat-dim light, before Komali throws up his arms and starts shouting, "He's awake, he's awake!"

Medli's head jerks up, she must have been sleeping, and when she catches sight of his bleary eyes searching around the room confusedly, she dashes to his side.

"Link! Thank gods, you worried us."

And he opens his mouth to ask but it's too dry, still too painful, to use his voice.

Komali seems to understand immediately, though, because he nods frantically and runs off, saying, "I-I'll bring you water!"

Medli watches the prince leave and then chuckles. "He's been watching you this whole time, you know. Not even sleeping." She smooths back his sweaty bangs. "He feels guilty about saying all that stuff to you earlier, too."

He stares blankly at her because he's completely forgotten what Komali said, but the prince comes back right then, water skin in hand.

"Here, here, drink this…" Medli puts him upright, his body screams with protest, and he feebly reaches for the skin.

Komali shakes his head so Link lowers his arms as the prince awkwardly pours water into his mouth. It trickles down his throat and it feels so refreshing, even though he still aches everywhere.

Komali finally takes it away and he opens his mouth, rasping, "Thank you."

The prince beams and says, "No problem."

Link grins a little shyly, he was never good at dealing with people, and scratches the back of his head with his somewhat uninjured arm.

"Prince Komali?" Medli clears her throat. "Don't you have something to say to Link?"

Komali shuffles back and forth, kicking his feet in the invisible dust. "U-Uh, yeah…" He swallows. "Sorry about being so rude earlier. Calling you a do-nothing and stuff."

He finally remembers what Medli was talking about earlier, so he puts on a more relaxed smile and waves a hand, as if brushing the problem away.

The prince laughs before letting out a relieved sigh. "I was worried you wouldn't forgive me."

Link shrugs, an easier grin on his face.

Medli chuckles. "Of course he'd forgive you. Link's a very nice person, after all."

And even though he laughs it off, the statement hits his heart because if he were a nice person, wouldn't he have been able to save Aryll already? If he was a nice person, Aryll wouldn't even be captured in the first place. If he was a nice person, none of this would've happened at all.

The two leave his room, Komali with some hesitation, and he lies back in his bed and covers his eyes with his arms, trying to ignore the streaks of water that pour out of them.

Everything still hurts.

He wants to go home.

It was his _birthday,_ damn it all.

He wants to be home with Aryll and Grandma and eat soup.

He was finally twelve, and this was the first thing that happens?

It's not fair.

None of it is fair.

He just wants to be a family again.

.

.

.

Once he's well enough to stand without the aid of a crutch, a few days of rest and a red potion or two helped with that, he tries to leave.

Medli and Komali are adamant that he stay, though, that he's not "okay" enough.

Just because he stumbles around a bit doesn't mean he's an invalid.

Part of him wishes they would go away, but he's apparently too _nice_ of a person to say that, so he keeps shut. He'll get better soon enough; red potion will make sure of that.

He just wants to leave this place, actually. Medli reminds him of his grandma a tiny bit, with her kindness and gentleness, and Komali of Aryll, with his innocence and laughter. Quill is like Orca, the chieftain is _kind of_ like Sturgeon.

Not really, though.

…Actually, never mind, they're not similar at all.

They finally let him go, though, after stocking him with bottles of red potion and hugs and words of parting.

King seems excited to leave at long last, of course he is, _he_ just wants to save the world from Ganon.

Link just wants to find his sister and go home.

Why was he here again?

Oh, yeah.

Because he was too weak to get it over with from the start.

* * *

 **A/N:** Beat Wind Waker in Hero Mode for the GC so I kinda wanted to write something? Yeah...

I've been trying to write Seven for a while. For those of you who don't know, that's the novelization I'm working on. Hit a block, though. Sucks real bad. Probably won't be out by December, by the way. Sometime next year at the earliest. Yeah.

Oh, oh, I also beat Majora's Mask for the 3DS. That was exciting. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but whenever I wanna beat that game, I feel the need to save every single blasted person so it takes forever. So many mistakes and so many do-overs. And they sped up time, too. That sucked.

...Kinda proud that I didn't use FD at all, actually. I forgot how difficult Majora was without it.

 _(I secretly strive to be as good at dancing as Majora's Incarnation is, but I know I'll never be up to that level.)_

I'm kinda bummed out right now about Seven, so I know I don't sound too upbeat and stuff, but I promise I'll be better some time soon? Yup.

 **Review** , please.


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